Mr. Stanly Sam:

I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to speak about Christians in India. India is the world’s largest democracy and while the majority of Indians are Hindu, its Muslim population is the third largest in the world.

There are an estimated 68 million Christians in India now.

India's constitution guarantees religious freedom, and Christians enjoy freedom in much of the country, but in rural areas they face increasing persecution from Hindu extremists motivated by the Hindu nationalist ideology called Hindutva. The extremists attack small churches, beat pastors and members, set fire to homes and church buildings and accuse Christians of being involved in forced conversions of Hindus. There has been an upsurge in persecution since the 2014 victory of Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in government in India now. The Evangelical Fellowship of India documented around 505 cases of persecution of Christians in 2021.

India's freedom-of-religion laws, commonly known as anti-conversion laws, are implemented in a number of states and have led to increased violence against Christians. The laws are intended to prevent Hindus converting to other religions.

In early May ethnic rioting started in Manipur state, in north-east India, leaving at least 100 people, mainly Christian, dead and more than 300 injured. Over 300 churches have been destroyed, which shows that the violence has a religious component.

I am from India so I get the news daily about the kind of persecution there. Pastors are beaten and imprisoned, churches are set on fire and people are killed because of their faith in Christ. It is very disturbing. I would say it is Government-organised violence against Christians because the Government has a hidden agenda against Christians. I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak about Christians in India.